Baseball Highlights: 2045

Let’s start this review by being perfectly frank. I’m a baseball purist. I like the game the way it is played; I still can’t get used to the Designated Hitter. So you can imagine my reaction when I heard about a baseball game set in the future with robots and cyborgs?!?!? But I love to check out the new stuff and, as someone who has always liked the work of Mike Fitzgerald (probably best known for his Mystery Rummy game designs), I was interested in giving this game a try. So is this a hit? Or a strikeout? Let’s take a look.

Baseball Highlights: 2045 (aka Mike Fitzgerald’s Baseball Highlights: 2045) is a futuristic look at baseball at it will be played (at least, in the mind of Mike Fitzgerald) 30 years from now. At that point in time (he predicts), baseball will have morphed into something similar to the game we know today but with a bunch of differences. Now, three types of players populate the dugout: Naturals (human beings), Robots and Cyborgs. And the game of baseball has been reduced to six innings simulated by playing a hand of six cards from your team of 15 players.

All players begin with their own “player stadium mat” depicting a baseball diamond and assorted areas associated with it (dugout, home plate and more). Everyone gets to choose a “Starting Team Deck” consisting of 15 cards.

Starting Decks are divided into players who are either Veterans or Rookies but all cards share certain characteristics. Each player is designated as a Natural, Robot or Cyborg. All players have a number in a green circle on the right to indicate how much revenue that player generates. Although Starting Team players don’t have this, others also show a red diamond to indicate their cost.

Players take their Starting Teams (one player will be the “Home” team, the other the “Visitors”) and, after shuffling their decks, place them on their respective Line-Up spaces on their mats, drawing six cards for their starting hand. Now, the 60 card “Free Agent” player deck is shuffled with six cards drawn and placed, face up, in a “Buy” row, off to the side. With set up completed, the first of three “mini-games” (in preparation for the “World Series”) starts.

The Visitors go first by playing one of their six cards to the “In Play” area. All cards have an “Immediate Action” box. If something is written there, that action goes into effect immediately. Underneath that box, possible hits are displayed. (In the card to the right, for example, a Single is possible.) If there are potential hits, pawns are placed on that player’s mat at home plate to indicate a runner poised to move to a base.

There are 3 types of runners: Slow (white pawns) go from base to base on a hit, Average (indicated by an A on the card at right and represented by blue pawns) will score if on second when there is a single) and Fast (red pawns) move ahead two bases on a single. Now, the opposing player plays one of his cards to try to cancel a potential hit (or hits) with something in his card’s Immediate Action box. If he cannot (or opts to play a card without an Immediate Action), those runners get placed on base and, should they get to home plate on a subsequent card play, that team will score runs. This continues until all 6 cards are played.

The team that scores the most runs wins the mini-game. (There is a rule for a “Visitor Save” if the Home Team is ahead at the end of the six card run. The Visiting team may play a card on his Home Deck circle OR draw the top card from his team deck in the hope of having some defensive immediate action to snatch victory from defeat. A card played that way is discarded. Should a game end with a tied score, extra innings are done by having both players draw 3 cards from the top of their decks, choose one, and reveal the chosen cards simultaneously. When the dust settles, the team now ahead wins. Still tied? Then, the card play is repeated. Still tied after playing all 3 cards? Then draw 3 more and do it all again. Baseball doesn’t like – and this game doesn’t allow – ties.)

With a mini-game completed, another aspect of baseball comes into play: that of the General Manager. Remember that line of players in the Buy row? Now you have a chance to add them to your team!

Each player counts up the amount of revenue generated by the six cards used (i.e. total the green circles of the cards played). That number is the amount of funds you have to spend buying players. The player with the fewest funds gets first pick (if money totals are the same, then the loser of the mini-game goes first). Any card bought is placed, face down, on that player’s DRAW deck, ready to be used in the next game. When a card is bought, a new card is drawn to replace it in the Buy Row so there are always six available. Bui Baseball Highlights: 2045 is NOT a deck-building game. Let’s call is a deck-STRENGTHENING game since, for each card bought, a card used MUST be demoted to the Minor Leagues. (This means the card is discarded, never to be used again.) Finally, all remaining cards in the In Play box are sent to the Dugout (your discard pile). Now, both players draw back to a hand of six cards and play their next mini-game. (Should you finish your draw pile, all cards in your Dugout are shuffled and the deck placed back on your Line-Up space, ready to be drawn.)

After three “mini-games” and buying rounds, you have shaped your Starting Team. Your new and improved team is now ready to battle in a best of 7 series. Game play remains the same (with a buying round after each game). The first team to win four games wins the World Series!

There is much to like about the gameplay of Baseball Highlights: 2045. Decisions are meaningful as you try to create a six-card engine to maximize scoring potential while, at the same time, prepare to stop an opponent’s offensive. Because you only work with six cards in your hand, you might feel constricted by the “luck of the draw” but there is some “wriggle room”.

Players have the option to put one of their six cards on their mat’s On Deck Circle and draw another card to replace it. Some cards have a PH (pinch hitter) designation (like the ones here) which permits that card to be discarded in favor of using either a card previously placed on the On Deck Circle OR the top card of your draw deck instead. Such maneuvering makes you feel more like a field manager tinkering with the line-up. How you handle this can keep your opponent guessing as to which cards you are holding as well as how much revenue you will have to spend for the next buying session.

Team colors of major league teams (but not their nicknames) are used to represent nearly all of the major league cities and teams. The cover artwork by Bill Bricker conveys the futuristic aspect of the game but the prominent use of “42” give a tip of the (baseball) cap to Jackie Robinson and baseball history. Additional artwork by Jacob Walker is excellent too. What’s more is that the game’s insert has plenty of room for cards (and expansion sets) even with the cards sleeved, a total package of skillful art direction (credited to Ralph H. Anderson). While all Starting Teams have nameless players, free agents available for recruitment come with names that evoke some of the famous players of the past. Check out the two pictured here: Sammy Sandberg and Terry Traynor. But Satchell Seaver and Mickey Maris are just two more that will make any true baseball fan smile. Expansion sets (of coaches, hitters, pitchers etc.) are included in the Deluxe Edition but also sold separately.

Fitzgerald’s “give and take” card play is impressive. As each player reacts to each card, the rhythm of play is akin to a tennis match (to mention another sport) with a sense of volleying back and forth. Remarkably, it seems (especially with the expansions) that nearly every permutation of baseball results is possible. While there are rules for solo play and for 3 or 4 players, this game is really for 2 players when you go head to head with a single opponent in a home vs. visitor matchup. While some knowledge of baseball is certainly helpful, being a baseball guru is not a requirement for play.

Most baseball games focus on the strategy on the field. There is that here but it is blended with general manager considerations as you improve your team from round to round, a facet of the baseball world I find just as interesting. The ability to buy new players allows you to “stack” the deck to give you an edge (at least, in your opinion) versus your opponent. But this aspect of the game requires you to maximize your buys since your team will never swell past a 15 card roster. It’s a quality vs. quantity dynamic with quality players being the key to your winning score.

Card game versions of baseball are nothing new. But with Baseball Highlights: 2045, Mike Fitzgerald demonstrates a love for the game and an original unique perspective on America’s national pastime. No matter how or who is keeping score, Baseball Highlights: 2045 is a home run.

Summer 2015 GA Report Articles

Reviewed by: Herb Levy(Eagle/Gryphon Games, 1-4 players, ages 8 and up, 45-60 minutes; $39.99; Deluxe Edition $64.99) Let's start this review by being perfectly frank. I'm a baseball purist. I like the game the way it is played; I still can't get used to the Designated Hitter. So you can imagine my reaction when I heard about a baseball game set in the future with ...Read More

Reviewed by: Greg J. Schloesser(Tasty Minstrel Games, 3 to 5 players, ages 13 and up, 120-150 minutes; $69.95) Generally, I am not fond of economic games, tending to find them fairly dry and business-like. I am a businessman by profession, so playing a game that is about a business strays a bit too close to what I do for a living. I want my gaming ...Read More

Reviewed by Andrea "Liga" Ligabue(Asmodee/Ludonaute, 2 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, less than 60 minutes; $39.99) The Old West is always fascinating, at least for us Europeans looking at the wide spaces of the US with a mix of awe and astonishment. Gunslingers, Indians, coaches, saloons and shoot-outs are powerful tools in the hands of expert designers. Bang!, Carson City, Dice Town, ...Read More

Imitation is... "...the sincerest form of flattery", at least according to Oscar Wilde. But you know what else imitation is? BORING! When your "lofty goal" is to copy, as closely as possible, something successful (we're talking about games here but this applies to almost everything), you are doomed to fail. When your new version of something is just about the same as the old version, ...Read More

Reviewed by: Herb Levy(Space Cowboys/Asmodee, 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 60 minutes; $59.99) Ambition is a powerful force. When you are a human being, it can be the drive that moves you up the corporate ladder or shoots you to the top in political circles. But when you are a demigod with designs on claiming a spot on Mount Olympus, you ...Read More

Reviewed by: Chris Kovac(Z-Man Games,1-2 players, ages 14 and up, 120 minutes; $79.99) Fields of Arle is a two player game of resource collecting and management by Uwe Rosenberg following his games like Agricola, Le Harve and Caverna in scope and style. The object of the game is to have the most points after nine turns ...Read More

Reviewed by: Herb Levy(Renegade Game Studios/Foxtrot Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up, 30 minutes; $34.99) Just when you think you've seen all the possible permutations of tile laying games, you discover something new. In Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, designed by Christopher Chung, tile laying is deftly combined with card play in a game where the setting is China and players are ...Read More

[In our issues, we generally focus on the newest and best games on the market today (when we're not highlighting some great classic game no longer in print). This piece, however, is an exception. James Davis is a big fan of Memoir 44, a well received game of World War II action originally featured in the Summer 2004 issue of GA Report. With over a ...Read More

Reviewed by: Herb Levy (Queen Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up, 45 minutes; $49.99) The smell of success is in the air for the player who can concoct the more desirable perfumes and sell them to the illustrious clientele who desire them in the latest game from the design team of Marco Ruskowski and Marcel Sobelbeck: Parfum ...Read More

Reviewed by: Herb Levy(Asmadi Games, 2 to 5 players, ages 14 and up, 45-60 minutes; $59.99) In the late 19th-early 20th century, the glue that held the masses together, keeping them in touch with the events of the day and each other, were the newspapers. These publications ran the gamut from high toned conveyers of the news to flamboyant and sensational journalism, commonly known ...Read More

Reviewed by: Herb Levy(Griggling Games Inc., 2 to 6 players, ages 13 and up, 90 minutes; $49.95) For the longest time, there has been a disconnect between wargames and Euro strategy games. Whether the trauma of World War II was simply too much to allow Europeans to revisit such a destructive conflict or differing cultural influences are to account for this, I'll leave to ...Read More

Reviewed by: Herb Levy(R & R Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 25 minutes; $19.95) Did you ever wonder how rival Mages settle their disputes? Well, it's not by sharing their feelings. In Spellcaster, a new game designed by Aaron Weissblum and Norman Woods, we discover that such disagreements are settled the only way they could be: through magical combat ...Read More

Reviewed by: Pevans(Quined Games, 2-4 players, ages 12 and up, 60-90 minutes; $59.99) It’s Earth, Jim, but not as we know it. I first played The Golden Ages, designed by Luigi Ferrini, at Dutch publisher Quined’s stand at Spiel ‘14 and was immediately taken with it. It’s a civilisation development game that takes familiar features and puts them together in a different way – ...Read More

Reviewed by: Joe Huber(Z-Man Games/Hans im Glűck, 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 40-100 minutes; $59.99) For me, the question of the most consistent publisher is a fairly easy one. Other than the single designer publishers, I’ve found no publisher who finds as consistently interesting designs as Hans im Glück. Whether classic games such as El Grande, Euphrat & Tigris, and Goa, ...Read More

Reviewed by: Joe Huber(Asmodee Editions/Ystari, 4 players, ages 13 and up, 10 minutes; $39.99) Every year, after Essen, I participate in a few gatherings to play through the new games. Over the course of a few weekends, I’ll typically end up playing 30 or more new games – most of which I’ll never come back to again. I really enjoy playing new (and new-to-me) ...Read More

If you enjoy games, then Gamers Alliance is right for you!

Our Mission

Excellence is not enough. Far too often, games worthy of attention escape the notice of the very gamers who would most appreciate them! Money is a factor too. A pretty box can be tempting. But can you really afford to gamble with your gaming dollars and hope you get lucky? Not really. So, what is the answer? Read our full mission.